Riley
Lennox bolted out of the locker room like I’d just threatened to burn her precious designer heels.
I leaned against the lockers, towel hanging loose around my hips, and let myself grin.
She could deny it until the moon fell out of the sky, but I’d felt the way her body reacted.
Fast heartbeat. Dilated pupils. That faint hitch in her breath when my hand brushed her arm.
Yeah. She wanted me.
The best part? She hated admitting it. That made this game so much more fun.
I cinched the towel back around my waist, still wondering what in the hell I’d done to make my own mate act like I was some contagious disease.
Most women didn’t run from me.
They ran to me.
And the few who didn’t were either taken, allergic to commitment, or… let’s just say, very committed to batting for another team.
But Lennox? She was neither.
She felt the bond. I knew she did. If it was hitting her anything like it was hitting me, she was going out of her damn mind trying to fight it.
So why was she fighting it?
I ran a hand through my hair, jaw tightening. She’d called me a “player”, which, okay, fair. But she had no idea how much of that reputation was exaggerated.
Some of it was pure rumor, and most of those rumors were spread by one particularly clingy ex I refused to feed any more attention.
None of it mattered anyway.
With Lennox, I had zero intention of playing games I didn’t mean to win.
I just… needed her to believe that.
And hell, right now? I was still hard as a rock from having her pinned against me earlier.
She had no idea what she did to me, or maybe she did, and she enjoyed watching me suffer. Wouldn’t put it past her.
That kiss last week….I’d thought about it every damn day since.
The taste of her, the way she’d melted for a split second before smacking the hell out of me, yeah, that had been burned into my brain on repeat.
I’d even gone as far as asking Coach about her, but he’d made it pretty damn clear I wasn’t getting her address from him. Something about “keeping professional boundaries.”
Like that was going to stop me.
My wolf snarled low in my head. Find her.
“I will,” I muttered under my breath. “Just gotta be patient.”
I yanked on my jeans and shirt, slung my bag over my shoulder, and stepped out of the locker room.
No sign of her. Figures. Lennox probably sprinted straight to her car before I could catch up.
I was halfway to the parking lot when my phone buzzed.
Dad: Change of plans. Meeting postponed to tomorrow.
I smirked. It looked like the Moon goddess herself had decided to give me the afternoon off, and possibly a shot at finding my runaway mate.
I tossed Coach a wave as I passed him. He was talking to a couple of guys I didn’t recognize, but I didn’t slow down. My brain was already working out my next move.
*********
My apartment smelled like fresh coffee and vanilla candles, which meant my cousin-slash-roommate, Anna, was home.
She was sprawled on the couch in an oversized T-shirt, music blasting from the speakers.
When she spotted me, she turned it down. “What are you doing here so early?”
“Anna, I need your help.”
Her eyes narrowed in that suspicious, calculating way she did when she smelled a payday. “A hundred bucks.”
I blinked. “You don’t even know what I’m asking for.”
“Doesn’t matter. It’s a hundred bucks.”
I snorted. “You are the most expensive free-loader I’ve ever met.”
She grinned sweetly. “And yet, you keep me around. That’s called love, cuz.”
“Fine,” I sighed. “I need you to find someone for me.”
Her brows went up. “Who?”
“Fantine Lennox.”
Anna tilted her head. “Did she rob you?”
“What? No!” I scowled. “I just… want to find her.”
“Why?”
“I don’t have to tell you why.”
She crossed her arms. “You do if you want my help. You know I’m the only one who can get you that info.”
Damn her, she was right. Anna knew every corner of campus and had a Rolodex of “friends” who could get her into dorms, records, even the campus security feed if she wanted. None of it was legal, but she didn’t lose sleep over that.
“She’s our new PR agent,” I said finally.
Anna frowned. “A student is your new PR agent? That’s weird.”
Now that she mentioned it, it was weird. But I wasn’t about to start pulling at that thread. Not when I had bigger priorities, like figuring out how to get Lennox alone without her bolting again.
“Yeah, well, weird works for me. Just find her dorm room and her class schedule. I’ll triple the amount if you do.”
Her eyes lit up. “Triple? Damn, did she steal your kidney?”
“Something like that,” I said, smirking.
She narrowed her eyes. “Is this a sex thing?”
I leaned forward and gave her my best alpha glare. “Anna. Just do it.”
“Fine, fine. Payment before service.” She held out her hand like a mob boss.
I rolled my eyes and pulled out two crisp hundreds. “You’re bleeding me dry, you know that?”
She snatched the bills and grinned. “Thank you for funding my new handbag. Expect your intel by tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” I groaned.
“Do you want it done right or done sloppy?”
“Fine. Tomorrow.”
************
I retreated to my room, shut the door, and flopped onto my bed. My phone was already in my hand, thumbs flying as I searched for her online.
Nothing.
No Instagram under her name.
No Facebook that wasn’t locked tighter than Fort Knox.
Not even a TikTok, which was weird considering she’d apparently just tripled the team’s following.
Either Lennox was a social media ghost or she’d covered her tracks like a pro.
My wolf growled again. She’s hiding.
“Not for long,” I promised.
I lay there for a while, picturing her, the defiant tilt of her chin, the sharp spark in her eyes, the way her scent wrapped around me like smoke and moonlight.
She thought she was in control. She thought she could keep this on her terms.
She had no idea how persistent I could be.
And by the time Anna handed me her schedule tomorrow?
Game on.